


Level 19 Glitch

by katamariofsoul



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Major Original Character(s), Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2013-05-03
Packaged: 2017-12-10 08:18:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/783875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katamariofsoul/pseuds/katamariofsoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What's left of a dead universe is dragged into the fiasco that is the current session. But there's something very wrong with this universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

A moment of peace. Sollux almost smirked when he realized it; it was such a rarity for him, especially nowadays that he essentially lived in a single room accompanied by all of the most irritating (and admittedly only) trolls he knew. If someone (Karkat) wasn't telling him to repair something, code something, or stuff something up one of or otherwise abuse his orifices; someone was usually having a hissy fit of some kind, either with another of the room's inhabitants, or occasionally with these humans that Karkat had decided they should troll.

But no, for once it was quiet, well relatively at least, the voices hadn't stopped bugging him, but after a few sweeps you got kind of used to that. Sollux leaned back in his chair for a second as he considered what to do; he probably couldn't leave the room without Karkat noticing, same with taking a nap, and as much as he loved coding, he had been going nonstop over the last couple days and needed at least a little variation. So what to do?

Well, there was always that security scanner that he had been thinking about using. Sollux glanced at the icon on his monitor, mousing over it. He had finished up the code a while ago, but as he was putting on the final touches Karkat got all dramatic about how it was a waste of time, and how they were all probably doomed no matter what they did, and something about nooks and levels of idiocy and blah, blah, blah. The point was that Sollux never got around to installing the thing.

He did sort of agree with Karkat on one point, if something did happen to them that would require the scanner, than they were probably in a doomed timeline like Aradia said, which would mean they would die no matter what. But he had decided that he would at the very least have some kind of warning beforehand, to… say goodbyes he supposed, or whatever you were supposed to do before dying. He smirked, 'You'd think I'd know by now.'

* * *

On a dead world, in a dead city, in a dead building, the young man sat; scrunched up against the cold, ungiving concrete wall. Tears fell from his face, but he didn't care, it wasn't like there was anyone around who'd mock him for it. It'd all be over soon anyway.

Nothing changed for a few seconds, at which point the young man realized something. 'My ass is vibrating.'

He sprung to his feet, his other worries forgotten instantly as he fumbled with his back pockets. He yanked out his cell phone, a cheap model, and flipped it open, praying to whatever cruel god that had put him in this situation to grant him some mercy for once.

It was the powering up screen. The young man's face fell as he realized what had happened. 'I butt dialed the power button.' He slumped against the wall, sliding down in defeat; 'I'm such a fucking idiot.'

He looked at the screen, which showed exactly what he expected, no new messages, or missed calls, nothing aside from the ugly black text that read 'Out of Service Area'. 'Of course I'm 'out of service area'.' He thought bitterly as he blinked back tears, 'There probably hasn't been anywhere on Earth with service for about a month now.'

The battery bar was full however, 'I must have shut it off right after this all began I guess.' As he scrolled through the menus, he realized that he still had pictures, as well as a few messages he hadn't deleted before it all started. 'One last look'

* * *

Just as Sollux expected, after making sure to filter out all the signals that he already had identified (that is, their own computers and those of the four humans), there was nothing out there. At this point in time Jack Noir was still preoccupied with the human's universe, so there was no trace of him, just as he expected.

He fiddled with the scanner for a few more minutes, ensuring that there were no bugs or discrepancies in the data. It was at this point that the scanner stated to pick something up that wasn't supposed to be there.

'What the?'

It was a signal, and it didn't match any that he had ever seen. He'd be more worried if it wasn't so weak, it was just barely above the scanner's threshold.

It was a radio signal, similar to those of the humans, but again, a match for none of them. And he hadn't heard anything about a fifth player. Even if he had, this one was coming from an entirely different location; what should have been just another part of the extensive void they now resided in.

Sollux mulled over what he should do.

'Well… it seems capable of receiving signals. Let's troll this nookwhiffer.'

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling [] --

* * *

The young man flipped through the various photos he had on his phone. They were low quality, but he didn't care, they were the only connection to his past he had left; everything else was… gone. He was the only one left.

Text Message Received

The young man froze in disbelief. 'How… I... It's…'

Text Message Received (2)

From:

TA: hey anybody there.

CB:

TA: piick up ii know your gettiing thii2.  
TA: dont tell me youre afk.

: who is this?

TA: well arent you 2low as fuck. and ii could a2k the 2ame

: sorry crapy cell where are you? is there anyone else with you?

TA: crapy cell'? and why 2hould ii an2wer you?

: im sorry im so lonly please help me are you in the city?

TA: what ciity? are you a player?

: phoenix and what player? is that code?

TA: 2hit. lii2ten, tell me what2 goiing on, de2criibe your 2iituatiion

: I'm the only one left everyone else is dead Before you answered I thought I was the only guy left on the planet Please help me I cant go on all alone

TA: 2orry but youre 2tiill probably the only guy left.

: your a girl?

TA: no, ju2t not on your planet.  
TA: iit 2ound2 liike youre the only 2urviiviing player iin a faiiled 2e22ion. iim on an a2teroiid iin the miidle of the voiid

: Youre an alien?

TA: a troll.

TA: lii2ten, you 2ound liike you could really need iit so maaayyybe ii can help you. but that2 a biig maybe, iive got re2pon2iibiiliitiie2 around here, ok?

He looked at the screen of his cell, it's light illuminating the dark concrete hall that suddenly felt both very big, and very confining. What was he supposed to do? This was completely insane but at this point... 'Take it or leave it, take it,' He closed his eyes, or 'leave it.'

: ok

TA: alriight then, btw the name ii2 sollux, you never 2aiid your2

He stood up off the floor and dusted off his pants

He made his way back down the stairs, back into the light of the ruined city.

: its isaac

TA: niice to meet you ii2aac


	2. Chapter 1

Your name is...

well I don't know what your name is; ISSAC SALCEDO is the name of the young man we are currently following.

Be Isaac

You can't be Isaac silly, no one but Isaac can be Isaac, and right now even he doesn't want to be Isaac; were he given the opportunity, he would rather be a multitude of other people.

Fine, whatever, do the character introduction thing

Isaac don't hold a particular affection towards anything at the moment, something that tends to happen to people when everything they know and love is taken from them; particularly their FAMILY and FRIENDS. He supposes he has an aptitude towards FORAGING, something he has practiced over the last month quite intensely. Recent events have given him reason to believe he might be GOING INSANE, although he honestly thinks that would be AN IMPROVEMENT.

Right now he is making his way back to THE BASE, to retrieve some SUPPLIES. In the meantime he is also texting on his SHITTY CELLPHONE, with someone who claims to be an ALIEN... or something; but he welcomes any form of company at this point.

* * *

Isaac scanned the street, the chaotic remnants of that day strewn about. Cars were left abandoned, more than a few in crashes, and the street was filled with litter.

There weren't many bodies, not anymore; occasionally he would see some bones on the street, or look away quickly as he caught a glimpse of what was left of someone inside a car; but in the month since the catastrophe, most of them had rotted away or been taken by scavenging animals.

He could still remember how the smell just drifted throughout the city for a while like a noxious cloud; no matter where they went the smell pervaded, for a few days they had to wear their makeshift face-masks to bed, just to breathe right.

But now the air was clear, for the most part at least; Isaac would have a strong stench overwhelm him whenever he passed over a manhole. He supposed that without anything flowing down in the sewers, it was all just sitting there now.

His cell started vibrating again.

TA: 2o you wanna tell me how iit happened whiile ii try and get you on the viiew2reen?  
: how what hapend? and what viewscren?  
TA: hold on a 2econd.

Isaac slipped the phone back and slowly tried to make his way down the street; he had to go get his supplies, although he really didn't want to go back to the base after... he shook his head, trying to clear his mind, and focus on the task at hand.

You had to be careful walking the streets; although they were for the most part navigable, every once in a while the entire width was filled with a multi-car crash that had to be climbed over with care not to slice yourself on the sharp wreckage. Not to mention that you always had to be on the lookout; they had found out the hard way that without the large population keeping them at bay, there was nothing stopping wild animals from now calling the city home.

TA: what the fuck diid you do?  
: what?  
TA: why doe2 your 2iignal 2uck 2o much? all iit2 capable of is tran2miitiing 160 character me22age2 not to mentiion ii cant get you on the view2reen.  
TA: 2ee? ii had 2 cu2 iit off 2here cau2e of thii2 riidiiculou2ne22. now tell me what iidiiocy you perpetrated so ii can fiix iit and maybe help your 2tupid a22.  
: i have no idea what your talking about ok. all i know is that you started sendng texts to my phone. and 160 chrcters is the limit for texts  
TA: ii2 there any rea2on for thii2 retarded liimiit? and jegu2 you 2uck at typiing, dont tell me that2 your quiirk cau2e it 2uck2 bulge

He was still typing out the response when Sollux answered back.

TA: fuck ii diidnt 2care you off diid ii, cause that2 ju2t 2ad  
: ok there was a lot in that last message that made no sense so give me a second  
TA: fiine  
TA: wow your takiing your 2weet tiime  
: ok here we go, i dont know what the reason for the limit is, im not good with machines. the reason my typing sucks is cause i have a shitty cell  
: so either i suck or i take really long like i have been. and last thing can we talk about this alien thing cause how do you know about jesus or english  
TA: ii dont know what englii2h ii2 but jebu2 became a thiing around here after one of my friends heard iit from another human.  
: what other human? did they say where they were?  
TA: diifferent 2e22iion moron.  
: what?  
TA: how do you not know anythiing?  
TA: diid you not learn anything during the game or ha2 your thiinkpan completely rotted away?

A minute passed.

TA: hello?

Another minute.

TA: dont tell me ii actually 2cared you off thii2 tiime.  
: is this my punishment?  
TA: what are you talkiing about?  
: am i in hell or something?  
TA: okay 2o your thiinkpan ha2 rotted away then.  
: im sorry please just tell me  
TA: tell you what? lii2ten ii know nothing about you  
: you dont?  
TA: no you bulge i had to a2k you your name remember?  
: sorry  
TA: 2top 2ayiing 2orry.  
: does thinkpan roted away mean insane? cause i think i might be a little  
TA: kiind of, and no 2hit.  
: you said earlir about a game what did you mean?  
'TA: 2GRUB'.  
TA: waiit for the other human2 iit wa2 '2BURB'.  
: wht?  
TA: the computer game you and all your friiend2 played that ended the world? where you were 2upposed to get iinto the mediium whiich you apparently faiiled at.  
: what are you talkng about? i dont play videogames  
TA: okay 2o maybe one of your friiend2 got you into iit wiithout you ever realiiziing, a 2hiitty 2trategy liike that wouldnt be 2urpr2iing iin a doomed 2e22iion.  
:theres no way Nina could do that  
TA: then one of your other friiend2.  
:there were no other frinds  
TA: you mean you only had one friiend, even wiithout quadrant2 to fill that2 2ad. then one of your enemies i gue22  
: no i had other friends  
TA: you ju2t contradicted your2elf.  
: no i mean nina was the only one who made it past that first day. i didnt know any of the others  
TA: what? that2 not possible.  
: why?  
TA: becau2e.  
: becuse why?  
TA: ii dont know. iit2 2ome 2hiit about how all of thii2 i2 prede2tiined and other tiimeliine fuckery.  
: what?  
TA: look ii have to go for a couple miinute2 cau2e KK is beiing a whiiny little nookwhiffer again. dont go crazy agaiin whiile iim gone.

"...shit."

Issac stared down at his cellphone for about a minute before putting it away.

'Okay, you can do this. Just open the door, get in, grab the shit, get out.'

His hand was still in his pocket, grasping the phone like a lifeline.

He shook his head, 'You're not a baby; you can do this.'

The doorknob was still a little wonky, just like he remembered. The door opened to reveal a small living room with an attached kitchen, it was fairly messy, but considering what it had been through it looked alright.

What it had been through consisted of six people, all but two of whom complete strangers to each other; trying to eke out a living following the end of the world. Prior to that it had also been his family's apartment.

He snorted, glancing at the family picture on the wall. 'Figures that Nina would tell everyone how conveniently located my apartment was.' He took the picture and gently removed it from the frame, before folding it up and putting it in his pocket.

The backpack was next, opening it to confirm that there were still two full bottles of water in there.

He took one out and took a large swig, 'I guess all that crying made me thirsty'.

He checked the pack for food, only finding a single granola bar. He scrounged about the cabinets for more, gathering all that he could find, not that there was much; he had no plans on coming back, if needed he could make another store raid.

Thinking of that lead his eyes towards the corner of the room; the crowbar was propped up there, he would need it if he wanted to break into any locked up buildings, or if he came across any hostile animals.

He eyed the piece of metal with apprehension, but walked over and picked it up before placing it besides the pack. 'You can find another weapon later.'

He scoured the apartment for anything else useful, but came up empty handed, not a surprise after how long they had all been staying there.

Gathering up his backpack and crowbar, Isaac looked about one last time. He wasn't coming back anytime soon, likely ever, there were just too many memories here; if he tried staying alone he'd go insane within a night.

While looking at the pictures of his friends and family, he realized that if his cell phone died he'd have nothing left of them. He grabbed the most important one, the family portrait and stared at them.

It was of them in California, at the beach; the only time he had ever gone to the ocean. His dad was standing there with the stupid mustache he had for only a month before mom had ordered it gone. She was hugging his sister, Cecilia, in the picture, the two of them still in their bathing suits.

He hadn't seen them die, and when they came to the apartment they weren't there either; ever since then he had been afraid that eventually they'd stumble across their bodies, torn to pieces by scavengers; but by now, he doubt he'd even know it was them if he found them.

The picture was all he had left of them, and with such a grim thought, he removed the photo from its frame and placed it in his pack.

* * *

"Hey, Tholluxth. Are you even listening, or has your think pan finally decided that it had enough of your smug hoofbeast-shit and left the building?"

Sollux sighed and turned around, "Yeah KK I'm done now, you can stop wetting yourself. What do you want?"

Karkat crossed his arms, "You mean besides to not be trapped on this rock with you ungrateful stains upon the fabric that makes up troll society, which higher powers have apparently deigned I must forever be tormented by as punishment for my stupidity?"

Sollux massaged a temple. "Yeah, besides that."

"I wanted to know what the fuck you're doing, seeing as you've been ignoring Gamzee's request for a new keyboard, what with his addled ass forgetting that dropping a sopor pie on it is a bad thing."

He sighed, while he probably could make up an excuse that would make Karkat leave him alone for a little while and stall the drama, this wasn't a problem that looked to be going away anytime soon. "We've got a little situation."

Karkat glared at him, "What do you mean situation?"

"You know those humans you guys found?"

"What? Oh don't tell me you've decided that you want to make one yours like Vriska, there aren't enough of those fuckwits to go around." The angry troll looked over at the blue-blood with slightly more hate than usual, Sollux figured he was just jealous, what with the whole hate-crush debacle and what not.

He shook his head, "No, I found another one."

"Sorry, you're gonna have to say that again. I'm afraid I've heard so much ridiculously sopor chugging stupid lately my audial holes have started filtering it as background noise."

Sollux sighed, "Yeah, this is gonna take a while to explain."


End file.
